Danny Cipriani's attempt to win friends and influence the England selectors is failing if London Wasps' 21-16 Guinness Premiership win over London Irish is any indication.

Cipriani was involved in a confrontation with veteran Irish outside-half Mike Catt at the end of the match which saw the out-of-favour 21-year-old refuse to shake his opposite number's hand.

It was a petulant snub which he maintained throughout the post-match exchange and Cipriani went out of his way to extravagantly shake the other Irish players' hands.

Catt, 37, did the same with the Wasps players and then positioned himself right next to Cipriani as the two teams lined up to clap each other off the pitch. Cipriani refused to acknowledge Catt.

Will Greenwood, the former England centre, believes Cipriani's omission from the national team is due to his unpopularity among fellow England players. As he left the pitch, Catt, who has been fiercely critical of Cipriani's form this season, echoed Greenwood's sentiments when he said: "Do you think it matters to me that someone doesn't shake my hand? I suppose you could say it comes down to respect."

With only England kicking coach Jon Callard present at the ground to watch Cipriani in action, it is obvious that team manager Martin Johnson and backs coach Brian Smith did not consider an afternoon at Adams Park a necessary option as they mull over possible changes for the Six Nations match with France at Twickenham on Sunday.But Cipriani says he is remaining positive. "I am not getting frustrated at not playing for England and I will wait and see what happens," he said.

"The coaches have spoken only about rugby reasons and if I am the best number 10 in the country then I will be picked by England."

If they had bothered to take a stand seat, they would have seen Cipriani goal kick with accuracy in a strong wind,but also throw a couple of wayward passes that could have been punished on a another day.

Irish utility back Shane Geraghty was also hoping to regain lost ground with the England selectors and proved his versatility by appearing at full-back and displayed a range of skills that makes him a real option for the England replacements against France.

With Geraghty in that position, it was Catt who directly opposed Cipriani and honours were even in game of intense defence and sporadic attacking play until that last-minute scuffle.

Catt made sure his tackle on Cipriani hit home and the young fly-half pushed the Irish backs coach away with real feeling and had a few choice words. It brought to the surface the obvious antipathy that Cipriani felt about Catt's recent comments and proved that while most players claim to never read the papers, they still manage to be informed about negative articles.

It was left to Ian McGeechan, the Wasps director of rugby, and assistant coach Tony Hanks to defend Cipriani's form and readiness for an England recall after a win that offers Wasps the chance to prove the doubters wrong by mounting a credible defence of their Premiership title.

McGeechan said: "Danny has been working well and we are very pleased with him. We haven't had any indication of anything else but rugby reasons for Martin Johnson's decisions."

Hanks made it clear he was not happy with Greenwood's suggestion. He said: "This came from Will and players may stop talking to him soon. Danny has been fantastic and he has the support of the players around him."

McGeechan is convinced his men can stage an unlikely run into the top four and make the play-off again even though they are still down in ninth place, 14 points off qualification.

He said: "We have to keep performing and we have some games in hand which are no good unless they are victories. Teams at the top have to play each other and it means we have to put in some strong performances and the table will sort itself out by the final weekend."

Irish had eight phases in the dying seconds to try and register a first league win since 3 January but have now gone six games without a victory, although they have amassed 12 losing and try bonus points to keep them in title contention.